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August 30, 2004

1992 called

Yeah, so 1992 called and they want my musical happiness back.

The songs on repeat in the car this week are both by Stone Temple Pilots. WTF??

The first is Plush and the other is Sex Type Thing!!!

But this is what happened. I picked up an iPod cheap off eBay and started dumping music on it. I was throwing all kinds of things on there and figured I might want a blast from the past so I hit it with some old college days material. It's good for nostalgia. So I've got it in the car (special thanks to Jenni for letting me borrow her FM transmitter!!!) and Plush comes on. Shit, this is a good rock out with your cock out kind of song! I'm brought back to being 19, rocking out, having a good time!

Yeah, I listend to STP, saw them in concert too, I ain't too proud to admit it and now, many years later, I'm listening to it all over again.

Man, I'm like Posty McPostalot!

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More

It just keeps coming, seems I'm the drop window for the bizarre comment this week...

1) Most people are alone and unamused with themselves, you're alone and amused with yourself. You're one of the lucky ones.

2) You're like my new dad.

Also, I had lunch with a friend and his coworkers today. I love watching people you know from one arena hang out and interact with people from another arena! It amuses me, but then, I'm easily amused.

And!
I was at my desk, listening to music and someone came in to talk to me. The next song came on and they said, "I didn't know you liked Jurassic 5, you don't seem like the type."

What does that mean? I know that I kinda look like Whitey McWhiterson from Whitefield Park, but still, music goes beyond that. Did he expect Britney to come blaring out of the speakers? Weird, yo.

« July 2004 | Main | September 2004 »

BURN

This is the best insult ever, thrown at me by one of my student workers and assuring her a place in my heart forever as one of the greatest insulters and one of the funniest people I know...

"If a singularity has not occured in the gaping black void of your heart it won't happen over your head!"

The funny thing was that she immediately apologized and felt bad. No way! I was in hysterics, that was the best insult ever thrown at me! People call me all kinds of names and throw all sorts of hidden, sideways insults my way, but to have a straight up solid insult thrown right at me was a joy!

She also said "Stupid people shouldn't have smart mugs".

« July 2004 | Main | September 2004 »

August 29, 2004

Done

Decision made. I realized that I always describe Ethan as my dearest friend or my closest friend, which is true, but I always have to qualify it with "but i never get to see him".

Fuck it. I'm tored of having friends all over the country that I never get to see. My good friends are so important to me, they've all helped me through so much. I decided today that from now on, no vacation will be taken unless I can work in seeing one of my friends.

So, I booked flights and ordered tickets and I'll be going to the Austin City Limits Festival and more importantly, I'll spend a weekend with Ethan and his lovely ladyfriend.

Thing is, at this point, I can't even descibe how happy and excited I am to be going on this particular trip. It means a lot to me.

« July 2004 | Main | September 2004 »

August 26, 2004

Pondering

My very good friend Ethan invited me down to the Austin City Limits Festival next month. The bands look great and Austin certainly knows how to put on a festival.

But of course there are pros and cons.

Pros...
The festival will be fantastic, I'll see lots of bands I've been meaning to see. I'll get out of town and away from life for a bit. I'll get back to Texas. Most importantly, I'll get to spend time with Ethan and his lovely ladyfriend, which is something I truly need to do.

Cons...
September is a shitty month for me, so much going on, so much to do, so much to take care of. Money's tight until the house sells, everything I charge now needs to be paid off when we close on the sale, every dollar spent now is a dollar that can't be used towards new furniture or a new car or on my trip to Ireland.

Emotionally, it's a solid yes. Responsibility-wise, I'm torn, I can get cheap airfare and all, so that's not a problem, but do I walk away from all this for a weekend?

Pondering.

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August 25, 2004

Hi Alan!

Alan finally got a website.

Go visit him, make comments, bug him to update.

Remind him he owes me a massage.

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August 24, 2004

so um

Someone told me that I was this squirrel. Perhaps this is a polite way of telling me I need to cut back on the caffeine.

« July 2004 | Main | September 2004 »

August 23, 2004

show me show me show me

Dammit. I have these 2 Cure songs stuck in my head and they keep sort of blending together into one sort mega-annoying mechasong.

I don't like The Cure. I never have. I just want to scream "Robert Smith, get over yourself" whenever I see him.

Anyway, these songs are stuck in my head and I guess that's my karmic cross to bear for not liking them or something.

« July 2004 | Main | September 2004 »

August 22, 2004

Onomatopeia

New favorite song, at least for this week. Featured on my new mix cd. Mark is an invaluable resource for new music since I never actually find new music on my own.

...

Those were some sort of segue dots to indicate a massive non-sequitur.

You know you have rounded a bend when you have this conversation with your mother and think nothing of it...
Mom: It's true what they say, the fastest way to a man's heart is through his stomach.
Me: Well...that or a good blowjob.
Mom: ...
Me: It's true!
Mom: I know, honey, but still..

Sorry mom.

Okay, I'm off to brunch with my very very good friend and hairdresser, Owen! Owen is the man responsible for the entirely too fabulous hairstyles lately.

mmmpancakes!

« July 2004 | Main | September 2004 »

August 20, 2004

As a matter of fact

I DO want props for my self control.

« July 2004 | Main | September 2004 »

Bits and more bits

1) My boss told me today
a)I was not allowed to have any contact with my replacement.
b)he's resigned himself to the fact that i'm not going to get any work done.

2) Quote of the day
I don't need huge quantities of ejaculate to take over the world, just a willing army of hippos.

I wish I had the time and inclination to explain this to you, but...I don't.

3) I spent much of the day talking to Ireland. I was on the phone on 4 separate occasions with 2 different people in Dublin. I'd like to justify it by saying I was firming up travel plans for my trip, but...I can't. p.s. Irish boys are drrrty boys.

4) When I have to yell at Ghengis he immediately drops to the floor, splays out his front legs and puts his nose down. He gives me giant sad eyes. It's sad. I still continue to yell.

5) I'm supposed to go to the opening night party for Death of a Salesman. On one hand, free food and liquor and eventually being felt up by drunk gay boys. On the other hand, sleeping.

6) HAPPY BIRTHDAY, APRIL!!! If my sister had a website, I'd link to it and you could send her birthday wishes. She does not have a website, so you'll have to leave them in the comments. You'd better leave her birthday wishes or I'll hunt you down.

7) I picked a house in Baltimore, now I just need to sell my house. Buy my house so I can quit my job and move to Baltimore.

8) There's a distinct possibility that I will be able to swing going back to school when I move to Baltimore. I have to decide between studying something I love (paleobiology with an emphasis on evolutionary modeling - bet you didn't know I was a nerd, did ya) or something conducive to a career (something with initials that mean business something boring). Fun or responsible? Don't know yet.

9) Can't wait for east coast road trips.

10) Gotta pee. Later.

« July 2004 | Main | September 2004 »

August 19, 2004

I just wanna say

I have the coolest friends ever. Period. My friends kick ass and that's the way it should be. If you don't kick ass, rock hard or generally bring me joy, then you can't be my friend.

And when the revolution comes, if you aren't my friend, I'll try to find you a position cleaning my hippo stables or something.

p.s. I think i'm gonna need a clubhouse or something for me and my special friends.

« July 2004 | Main | September 2004 »

confidential to you

Let me make this clear, I'm laughing at you, not with you. I mean for fuck's sake, man, it was SHAMPOO!!!

Still laughing.

« July 2004 | Main | September 2004 »

and the lies...they continue to build

Silly Mark he called me a sensible woman.

I am many many many things, I'm sure you all have some choice titles for me. This is the first time I've been called a sensible woman.

I feel sort of dowdy.

« July 2004 | Main | September 2004 »

Who cares?

You know how when you are leaving somewhere you kinda stop caring about things? Yeah, that's me at work.

When you combine my winning charm with my intense apathy it makes for some interesting office politics. I pretty much respond to every request with "I don't really care" and varying volumes and level of whine.

Also, I've been here in this position for 4 years and today the director of development came up to me and introduced herself to me. Um...we've met, I've been here for FOUR YEARS, we work together, we gossip at potlucks, my office is directly below hers. Still, she told me it was nice to finally meet me.

I guess it is possible for one person to care less about their job than I do. Hard to imagine.

« July 2004 | Main | September 2004 »

August 18, 2004

you

You know how much I hate it when you do it, tossing your half smoked camel into the sink. This time you look me in the eye, challenging me to say something. I match your stare, I've nothing more to lose.

Like everything else, it's a draw, we look away at the same time.

I light another cigarette and cross my arms, staring at nothing, taking everything in. I can feel it in you, the rage and hatred, the resentment, the tantrum-like insistence that it's my fault.

The smoke fills the kitchen, the ghost of our regret, the ghost of what we were.

I offer you the pack, but you look away. The need gnaws at you, I could see it in your clenched fists, you need me to apologize, to shoulder the burden.

My silence breaks your will. You're gone forever starting with the first step. One gulp, you finish your Jack, the glass shatters inches from my head. No reaction, you won't get it from me. Just go.

With every breath after the door shuts behind you I feel your hate dissipate into the walls, disappearing.

« July 2004 | Main | September 2004 »

Dear Abby

So I'm in the middle of a love life type quandary at the moment (the details of which I won't share here and surprisingly, it's probably not the kind of quandary you think). I've spent a lot of time pondering the situation in my head, trying to look at it from a bunch of different angles. Yesterday, I decided it was time to seek out advice from my friends.

You learn a lot about your friends and family just by listening to their advice. They tell you what they would do in the situation. My more emotional friends give me advice dealing with emotions, the more rational give me logical advice (obviously). I look at the advice and suddenly I see my friends in a whole new light, their advice to me gives me insight into them. Also, asking for advice like this give you a chance to see how well your friends know you. Some friends don't realize just how deeply I analyze a situation internally before I go to other people. If I find myself saying, "I already thought of that" or "I WOULD NEVER DO THAT!!!" then I realize that these people don't know me too well.

Funny thing is, I've gotten such conflicting bits of advice, all making sense in their own way, that I'm stuck right back where I started, unable to decide how to proceed. I think I need to present all the facts to all of my friends at once and let them battle it out til they come to one unified decision. Of course, I won't believe them or take their advice, I just want to know what they'd say.

« July 2004 | Main | September 2004 »

August 16, 2004

Who missed me?

My party animal of a puppy missed me.

I'm home, exhausted, starving, headachy, and happy. I'm glad to be home, I miss my friends, though. Back to work tomorrow, going to work would seem a drag, but really, it's where I unwind after vacations! Work is almost like a vacation from my life!

Of course, if you're my boss and reading this you should interpret that as "Working for my boss is such a joy that i feel I should be allowed to do it for free!"

« July 2004 | Main | September 2004 »

Goodbye

14th and Mass, crying like a baby, saying goodbye to someone very special. You forget that there are people willing to go out of their way, to inconvenience themselves, to be kind to you. The generosity of others is something that sticks with you longer than anything.

My ride will be here soon, I don't think it has ever been so hard to walk away from a city before.

« July 2004 | Main | September 2004 »

August 15, 2004

The slow slide

The show last night was FANTASTIC. If you know me, you know why this is an incredible statement. I hate bar shows, I hate the crowds, the standing, the shuffling, the inability to see, the long sets by bands I've never heard of(I even skipped seeing Mike Doughty, who I love, because I didn't liek the venue he was at). Leave it to Mark to pick bands and a venue that would change all that for me. We got there, met our friend James (who doesn't have a website but should), and managed to be early enough to be at the stage.

The first band was okay, I think everyone liked them more than I did. They weren't bad, just not great. The second band, Rogue Wave was very very good. They rocked hard. AC Newman was the headliner and was also incredibly good. The keyboard/guitar guy was right above me, we played a little eye tag, that made my night. Mark has incredibly good taste in music.

So, after hours of rocking out, and many vodka tonics, Mark drove us over to DC culinary institution Ben's Chili Bowl for 2am chili cheese fries! We talked, we laughed, we talked some more. Sitting there at 2:30 in the morning with people who are genuinely fun and interesting, just cemented my decision to move here.

Back at the hotel by 3am. The stress, the running, the 4 week low grade fever, the 2am chili-cheese fries, the decisions, everything that sits on my soul lately just came crashing down. Unfortunately, there's no one you can call in the middle of the night. I rode it out til dawn and called my mom. Mom's are good, you can call them, bawling your head off and they make it better with just a sentence or two. Lovely.

Mark picks me up in the morning and we head to Virginia to an Indian Buffet brunch. Yeah, that's right...brunch, in Virginia, an Indian Buffet! I met a lot of Mark's friends and ate a lot of Indian food (though not as much as I would have, 2am chili cheese fries...).

After brunch we headed to Whole Foods where we discovered they had no espresso!!!!! I left Mark with the cryptic shopping list and headed to Starbucks (there's one on EVERY corner). Crisis averted I found Mark, harassed the uninformed cheese counter lady and we headed back to his place with the fixings for a very nice meal.

Dinner was rack of lamb with a beurre rouge, mashed yukon golds with burnt green onions and asparagus with lemon butter. Mark's friend Amy joined us. Personally, I think there is nothing more fulfilling than feeding people good food and to watch Mark and Amy inhale their dinners was satisfying, I even gave Mark my last lamb chop just to watch him enjoy it.

I go home tomorrow, James is taking me to the airport after I have a last lunch with Mark. I know I'll cry, I'm a girl like that, but if anything was made clear to me this weekend it was that I am making the right choice.

« July 2004 | Main | September 2004 »

August 14, 2004

Quickly!!

Yesterday

* Indian food with Mark for lunch YUM!
* The tiny aquarium in the basement of the D.O.C. FUN!
* The Museum of Natural History, trilobites, monotremes, dinosaurs, spent all the time I wanted to there, HOORAY!
* Dinner with Jason then walking, talking, drinking, talking. FABULOUS!!
* Hulk Hogan on Biography, INSOMNIA!

Then today...

* Dim sum with Jason, YUM
* Coffee and talking and geeking out with Jason, YELLOW CARD!!
* Meeting Mark at the zoo (and it should be noted that Mark made a special trip in the rain JUST to meet me at the zoo, JUST so we could see the hippos. Mark is a good friend indeed), HIPPOS!
* Seeing AVP at the Uptown in DC. MASSIVE screen, just fucking massive, with great sound and a balcony. Defying popular opinion I'm going to give this movie a thumbs up. (I'm sorry, Alan, I just couldn't wait, I'll still see it with you)
* Now I'm off to see AC Newman at the Black Cat. I'd better see you there!!!

« July 2004 | Main | September 2004 »

Hipster relativity

I know SO MANY people that this applies to.

The theory of Hipster Relativity

Special thanks to Mark for this one. I'm off to dim sum now, update later.

« July 2004 | Main | September 2004 »

August 13, 2004

Holy Crap!

Tired

So last night Mark and I go to dinner then go back to his place to hang out and catch up. I brought my laptop so I could get my email and whatnot.

It was a giggly good time. Actually, Mark doesn't giggle, but I do. It was so good to just hang out with him, no plans or activities or running around, just hanging out.

Unfortunately, all my previous running around and his long days at work caught up with us. We were exhausted. Sigh, I wish I could travel like other people, with the constant excitement and siteseeing, but whatever. We needed calm and we got calm. Nice. Very nice.

When I went to bed last night I took the 853,769 pillows on my bed and made a nest. Good move, I slept really well. Bad move, I slept through the alarm and overslept. I don't feel to bad about it though. I've been to DC, I've seen the sites many times, I don't feel bad if I miss a few.

Mark and I are going to lunch today, Indian food! Later I'll hit the mall and visit the aquarium and the natural history museum. Then dinner with another friend.

Tomorrow...HIPPOS!!!!!

« July 2004 | Main | September 2004 »

August 12, 2004

Day 2!!!

(! = for real this time)

!!!!!!!!!!

So today I look at 4.8 million townhouses. It was exciting. I thought I had the best place picked out before I got here, but the realtor had 3 more properties for me to look at and suddenly there was an angelic 'waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah' from the sky and a seriously freaky sunray shining on my head (could have been the massive amounts of coffee, but I prefer to believe that in was the sky). Now I have 3 favorites, each one has some major pro's and some minor cons. I have some decisions to make.

My current favorite has an entire master suite with it's own bathroom and everything. Also on a very quiet street with a boulevard. Also also the most expensive of them all, but I'm playing with the numbers and I think it's completely doable. Wooo!

Today is all !!!!!!!! for real and fun.

Then I got to DC and let's see...lunch, nap, fighting with internet access.

Mark got completely lost in the rain trying to find my hotel, but we managed to find each other. So good to see him again (but he needs to eat a sandwich or something, he's skinny as hell). We had some sushi and now he won't let me smoke on his balcony. Sigh.

Now I'm chilling on his futon watching Sealab 2021 and watching him clean his place (once again, he knew for weeks that I was coming to visit and he waits to clean).

Tomorrow, he's taking me to lunch and I'm going siteseeing. Need to get batteries for the camera, though. Dinner with the awesomest guy in the district, he's better have a good excuse for not updating his website.

ps !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

« July 2004 | Main | September 2004 »

August 11, 2004

Day 1!

The exclamation point was to convince you of something that doesn't exist. Day 1! had no actual excitement. 3 airports, a looooooong shuttle ride and my hotel.

Highlights of my day included getting room service, smoking in my hotel room (apparently all the rooms allow smoking, the non-smoking room is the exception, this is very odd), Reading 2/3 of the DaVinci Code, and walking around the Johns Hopkins campus (nice place but way far away from anything cool) and free wireless! (! for excitement!).

Tomorrow I meet with the realtor and HOPEFULLY everything will go well and I can make another solid step into my new life.

I'm off to finish my book and sleep off my 2 beers. Woo!!!!!!!

ps I miss my puppy terribly.

« July 2004 | Main | September 2004 »

August 10, 2004

Bye

I leave in the morning for Baltimore and if things go well, I should have a new address on Thursday and then can start on the business of coordinating a house sale, a big move, 2 weeks in Ireland, a new job and breathing.

I'd say I'm tired just thinking about it, but I'm tired from everything lately!

I come back Monday night, hopefully rested. More importantly, I hope I'm de-stressed. I need this vacation more than anything right now.

Wish me luck! I'll keep you posted.

« July 2004 | Main | September 2004 »

August 7, 2004

So very tired

Sorting, dividing, donating, tossing, packing. All of my stuff is being crammed into boxes and hidden in the garage so it looks like stylish spartans live in my house. Apparently, people only want to buy houses from Martha Stewart. I'm exhausted.

Besides a few 5 or 15 minute breaks here and there, the only time I've really had away in the last few days was to drive to work at one in the morning to sit in my car and talk to one of my coworkers. Not make out with him, not fool around somewhere. No, just sitting in the car, smoking and talking.

I'm also on my last beer. Weep.

« July 2004 | Main | September 2004 »

August 6, 2004

It's been a while

Ghengis is saucy...

Ghengis is evil...

Ghengis is easily distracted...

« July 2004 | Main | September 2004 »

August 5, 2004

How You Doin'?

Best pick up line to use while in a car...

"Hey, ladies, we got beer and fried chicken in here."

Use it wisely.

« July 2004 | Main | September 2004 »

August 4, 2004

SCORE!!!

So lately I've noticed that for every sucky thing that happens Karma seems to hand me an event of greater happiness! (I've also noted that I start a lot of posts and emails and things with the word 'So'. Pretty sure there's some rule about not using that word when you write because it's not terribly professional or something.)

The other day I wake up to find that the puppy had devoured my sunglasses, my $300 prescription sunglasses that I cherish completely. I love these sunglasses. I wanted to cry.

I tried to go without sunglasses, they seem extraneous, but after 12 seconds outside I realized I couldn't. I went to Pearle Vision last night to see about getting them replaced. I fully expected to pay full price for them and figured it was just part of the cost of owning a puppy (a puppy that's going to find himself traded for whiskey real soon).

I brought them up to the lady at the counter, a delightful woman named Ardiss. She's helped me pick out glasses before and I love her, she's responsible for these sunglasses. She looks at them and says, "There'll be a 30% copay to replace these."

I'm confused for a second, I tell her that my insurance doesnt cover glasses, just eye exams. Oh no! It seems Pearle has some sort of replacement guarantee! If your glasses break or need to be replaced for any reason you just pay 30%! I yelled, "OH MY GOD!! You're my hero!".

AND!!! And, they were having a sale, 50% off frames! Exciting! since my replacement sunglasses were way cheaper than I expected I decided to get a second set of regular glasses as well. I tried on a few, Ardiss asked me what style I was looking for. The reason why I love Ardiss so very much is that when I said "Funky, nerdy girl" she wandered off and came back with the absolute PERFECT pair of glasses. They were funky, they were nerdy, they were girly. I pick them up tonight.

Unfortunately, they don't stock my sunglasses frames in house anymore so they had to be ordered, hopefully they will be here before I take off for Baltimore/DC next week.

Life's been pretty damned sweet lately. I'm enjoying the ride.

« July 2004 | Main | September 2004 »

Hooray for Hippos

This is why I love hippos so very much. A pair of giant land mammals can just lumber their way out of a zoo and across the countryside unnoticed and then are able to wreak havoc with the local fishermen.

Whenever I try to lumber away from my desk and across campus so I can wreak havoc, people notice. God loves the hippo in a very special way. So do I.

« July 2004 | Main | September 2004 »

August 2, 2004

Quote of the Day

"Quantum physics has dealt me a bad hand today"

« July 2004 | Main | September 2004 »

Closer...closer

I just got off the phone with the very pleasant and helpful Zach and booked movers for the move. It felt a little premature, but Zach assured me that with enough lead time we could change the date as needed.

In 10 days I'll be in Baltimore and should (hopefully) file the paperwork for the new place. In 2 months or so I should be partying with the Irish Boys.

All I need now is for the Minneapolis realtor to call me back so we can get Casa de Queso on the market.

« July 2004 | Main | September 2004 »

August 1, 2004

Just one more reason

This is just one more in a long list of reasons why I need to leave Minneapolis and get my ass to Baltimore...

!!!BOB EVANS!!!

Seriously, there is no place in Minneapolis to get good biscuits and sausage gravy!! What's up with that, people?? You can go places that offer 'biscuits and gravy' but it's just some shitty, second rate brick-like biscuits with some sort of white sauce that seems to fulfill the role of 'gravy' in their eyes.

Pfffffffffft.

Bob Evans is a purveyor of overly moralistic family values, oversized meals of questionable nutritional value and the best damned biscuits and gravy I've ever had. Daaaaang.

There are no Bob Evans' in Minnesota or anywhere nearby, there are, however, something like 6 of them in the vicinity of Baltimore. This is indeed the sign I was looking for.

« July 2004 | Main | September 2004 »

This is our last goodbye

I threw my last Minneapolis party last night. It was a surreal experience to say the least.

I have a bruise the size of Arkansas on my upper arm, I cut my head open at my hairline and I have a tender bump on the top of my head. All of this is in addition to the wicked hangover I'm nursing because I broke all of my drinking rules (water between each drink, don't mix alcohols, no sugary drinks), and I managed to keep every tobacco company in the US in business for one more year.

I'm gonna have to say that if 'ouch' is any measure of success, then this was the king of parties!

I'll miss you all!

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